Fresh charges expected against Pakistani doctor hailed a hero by American
officials but imprisoned at home

Lawyers for Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor who aided the CIA's manhunt for Osama bin Laden, fear their client is to be hit with a string of charges in an effort to keep him behind bars.

Dr Afridi was arrested in 2011, days after US Navy Seals shot dead the al-Qaeda leader in the town of Abbottabad.

His arrest and subsequent conviction for colluding with a banned militant group were cited as proof by foreign critics that Pakistan was insincere in its claims that it was dealing with terrorism. Instead of feting a hero of the hunt for bin Laden, they were prosecuting him.

However, in August a court overturned that conviction and a retrial is due on Wednesday.

Qamar Nadeem, a lawyer representing Dr Afridi, said lawyers were expecting a string of further cases to emerge.

"Somebody thinks that the previous case is looking weaker and weaker so they must think that they need something else to keep him behind bars," he said.

"We have heard of other cases coming but we have not been officially told yet or received the documents." He added he was stunned to learn in the media that a case had been registered against Dr Afridi accusing him of murder and fraud, relating to the death of a patient from appendicitis more than six years ago.

Mr Nadeem said he had been told to expect further cases, each dating back several years.

They are understood to include charges of medical malpractice and sexual harassment – claims that would be denied by Dr Afridi.

Wednesday's hearing will focus on the doctor's relationship with Lashkar-e-Islam. His lawyers say Dr Afridi was forced to administer medical treatment to its fighters and that his family had to pay a ransom for his release – money which prosecutors have used as evidence of his support for the Islamist group.

He was sentenced to 33 years in prison before a retrial was ordered.

The US has frequently demanded that Dr Afridi be freed. Last year, Hillary Clinton, the then US secretary of state, said he "was instrumental in taking down one of the world's most notorious murderers".

Dr Afridi went door-to-door in Abbottabad offering hepatitis jabs to children but failed to gain access to bin Laden's household.

In Pakistan, senior military officers have said repeatedly that Dr Afridi should not expect to be allowed to go free for his role working with a foreign intelligence agency.

This week an official with Pakistan's ISI spy agency told the news organisation McClatchy that nothing had changed.

"Afridi will spend the rest of his natural life in prison," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.